Daniela Comani

Born 1965 in Bologna (Italy), she lives and works in Berlin.  

Daniela Comani studied fine arts in her home town from 1984 to 1988, then moved to Berlin, where she obtained a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) at the University of Arts in 1993. A multidisciplinary artist, she is equally adept with video, photography, installation and drawing. But, whatever medium she chooses, we find her favoured themes of history, language and female identity.

The work presented at Les Abattoirs, C’était moi. Journal, 1900-1999, was installed on the façade of the installation of the Passerelle art centre in Brest in 2010, and was presented the following year in its English version (It was Me. Diary 1900-1999) in the Pavilion of the Republic of San Marino at the 54th Venice Biennale. A first version of the work, in German (Ich war´s. In zweiundreißig Tagen um den Alexanderplatz. 1805-2007), was exhibited at the Alexanderplatz subway station in Berlin in 2007.

The installation is like a huge, first-person diary in which the narrator becomes the creator, witness or victim of major events in the history of the world over the last century. 365 notes, chronologically dated from 1 January to 31 December, evoke events chosen by the artist for subjective reasons and not according to the criteria of official history. As often in her work, Comani subverts roles, places the real at something of a distance, in order to make it easier to observe. Setting aside the dizzying effect of these hundreds of names, places and events, this compilation tells us that official History and personal histories, collective memory and individual memories, are all inextricably linked.